Day 347 Until the Trial Gates Open
For several seconds, nobody aboard the Argonaut spoke.
The silver vessel remained just beyond the Threshold Gate, its blue engines glowing steadily against the darkness. Behind it, the silhouettes emerging from the corridor grew larger with every passing moment.
Rika stared at her tactical display, her fingers moving rapidly across the controls.
"Captain, I'm counting twelve major contacts."
She paused, checked the readings again, and swallowed.
"Correction. Fifteen."
Captain Roland Rolf stepped closer to the main display.
"Identify them."
"I can't. Their energy signatures are being masked by the gate's transit field."
"Are they transmitting?"
"Only the lead vessel."
Rolf looked toward Lyra.
She had gone completely still.
The colour seemed to have drained from her face, leaving her pale blue skin almost white beneath the bridge lighting.
"Lyra?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she watched the silver vessel as though she were looking at a ghost.
"That ship," she whispered. "It cannot be here."
Leon, listening from Sentinel's cockpit, leaned forward.
"You're going to have to give us more than that."
Lyra drew a shaky breath.
"It belongs to the Asteri Concord's Archive Guard. Their ships protected our greatest repositories. They were not designed for conquest. Their duty was to preserve knowledge, evacuate scholars, and defend the innocent when the Concord came under attack."
Flint studied the vessel's silhouette.
"And the one commanding it?"
Lyra shook her head.
"I don't know. The Archive Guard was almost entirely destroyed during the final war."
The transmission returned.
"This is Archive Sentinel. Unidentified vessels, maintain your current positions. Do not approach the transit corridor."
Captain Rolf activated the communications channel.
"This is Captain Roland Rolf of the Earth Federation vessel Argonaut. We have come seeking access to Archive Prime under the authority of the Helix inheritance."
There was a pause.
"Earth Federation?"
The voice sounded genuinely puzzled.
"Your designation is not recognised by our records."
Rolf glanced at Flint.
Flint shrugged.
"That's fair. We haven't been around very long."
Rolf ignored him.
"We represent a young civilization from the Sol system. We have established contact with Lyra of the Asteri Concord and received coordinates to this gate."
Silence followed.
Then the silver vessel transmitted a new message.
"Lyra of the Asteri Concord?"
The speaker's tone changed.
"Please transmit a visual identification."
Lyra stepped toward the communications station.
"My name is Lyra. I served aboard the Asteri archive vessel Serenity under High Archivist Selene. My vessel was attacked during the evacuation of the outer colonies. I entered cryogenic suspension after the ship's life-support systems failed."
She hesitated.
"I do not know how long I slept."
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the voice returned, quieter than before.
"Lyra..."
The speaker spoke her name as though testing whether it still belonged in the universe.
"This is Commander Auren of the Archive Guard. If you are truly Lyra of the Serenity, then you are the last surviving member of the Third Archive Expedition."
Lyra closed her eyes.
"I thought I was."
"Your expedition was declared lost eight hundred and sixty-three years ago."
She gripped the edge of the console.
"I know."
"No."
Commander Auren's voice faltered.
"You don't understand. We searched for your vessel for two hundred years after its disappearance. We recovered the wreckage of your escort ships, but the Serenity was never found."
Lyra stared at the screen.
"You searched for us?"
"Of course we did."
The answer came so quickly that it seemed to surprise even the commander.
"You were our people."
For a moment, Lyra looked unable to speak.
Then she lowered her head, and a quiet sob escaped her.
Leon looked away, giving her what little privacy the bridge could offer.
He knew that feeling.
The terrible mixture of relief and grief that came from discovering that the people you thought had forgotten you had, in fact, spent years hoping you were still alive.
Flit spoke softly over the private channel.
"Let her have a moment."
Leon nodded.
"Agreed."
Unfortunately, the universe had no intention of granting them one.
Rika suddenly straightened.
"Captain, the other ships are powering their weapons."
Rolf turned sharply.
"What?"
"Energy output is increasing across all fifteen contacts."
On the display, the enormous silhouettes behind Archive Sentinel began moving into formation.
They were not Asteri vessels.
Their hulls were dark silver, almost black, with crimson lines running along their armour. Their designs were angular and aggressive, built around enormous forward-facing weapons.
Leon recognised the markings.
"The Ascendancy."
Flint's expression hardened.
"They followed us."
"No," Lyra whispered.
Everyone turned toward her.
She stared at the approaching fleet.
"They were already here."
Inside the cockpit of Gundam Sentinel, Leon watched the tactical display fill with red markers.
"Captain, we should launch the mobile suits."
Rolf's voice came through his headset.
"Hold your position, Lieutenant. We don't know whether the Archive Guard intends to fight."
"With respect, sir, I don't think the Ascendancy has come all this way to exchange greetings."
"I am aware of that."
Rolf paused.
"But until they fire, we will not be the ones to start this battle."
Leon exhaled slowly.
"Understood."
He looked toward the adjacent launch cradles.
Gundam Tempest stood ready beneath its launch gantry, its blue armour gleaming beneath the hangar lights. Elias Voss was already strapped into the cockpit, listening to the exchange.
Beside it, Gundam Bastion waited in its heavy launch cradle.
Marcus Hale's voice came over the squad channel.
"Sentinel, Tempest, Bastion. Weapons systems are on standby. No one fires without an order."
Elias answered immediately.
"Understood."
Leon leaned back against his seat.
"Everyone's getting very serious."
Marcus replied dryly.
"We're facing an enemy capable of folding space. Forgive me for not finding the situation amusing."
Leon smiled faintly.
"Wouldn't dream of it."
The humour disappeared as another transmission reached the fleet.
It came from one of the Ascendancy ships.
"Archive Guard vessel. You are in violation of the Second Judgment."
Commander Auren answered without hesitation.
"This is an independent Archive station. The Judgment holds no authority here."
"The Tribunal has declared all unauthorized archives subject to seizure."
"The Tribunal has no authority here," Auren repeated.
A second Ascendancy vessel moved forward.
Its hull opened along the central spine, revealing a weapon that gathered a sphere of violet energy.
Rika's eyes widened.
"Captain, they're charging a spinal cannon!"
Rolf activated the fleet-wide channel.
"All ships, defensive formation! Raise shields!"
The Argonaut's forward shields flared blue.
Its escort cruisers moved into position, spreading around the flagship and the Diva.
But the Ascendancy weapon did not fire at the human fleet.
It fired at Archive Sentinel.
The violet beam crossed the distance between the vessels in an instant.
Commander Auren's ship twisted sideways, but the blast struck its port-side shields. Blue light erupted across the hull, and the silver vessel spun away from the gate.
"Archive Sentinel has taken a hit!" Rika shouted.
Leon was already moving.
"Launching!"
"Ardent, hold position!" Rolf ordered.
"Sir, they're attacking the only people who can get us to Archive Prime!"
A second beam lanced toward the damaged vessel.
Leon didn't wait for permission.
Sentinel's launch cradle released, and the Gundam shot into space.
"Leon!" Flint shouted over the engineering channel. "Don't try to fight the entire fleet!"
"Wasn't planning to!"
Sentinel accelerated toward Archive Sentinel.
The second beam struck the damaged vessel's shields just as Leon arrived.
He raised his shield and fired a concentrated beam burst at the Ascendancy warship's weapon assembly.
The shots struck the hull, forcing the enemy vessel to adjust its aim.
The attack wasn't enough to damage the warship significantly.
But it bought Archive Sentinel the time it needed to retreat behind the Threshold Gate's outer ring.
Leon grinned.
"You're welcome."
Archive Sentinel's commander responded almost immediately.
"You are reckless, Human pilot."
"You're welcome anyway."
A brief pause followed.
Then Commander Auren laughed.
It was a surprised, almost disbelieving sound.
"You remind me of someone."
Leon angled Sentinel toward the Ascendancy formation.
"Hopefully someone handsome."
"Someone who nearly got us all killed."
"Ah. That's less encouraging."
The battle began in earnest.
Three Ascendancy warships broke formation and accelerated toward the human fleet.
The Argonaut opened fire with its forward beam batteries, forcing the first enemy vessel to divert its course. The Diva followed with a coordinated missile barrage, filling the surrounding space with dozens of guided projectiles.
Most of the missiles never reached their targets.
The Ascendancy ships manipulated the space around themselves, bending the projectiles away before they could strike.
Flit watched the engagement from the AGE Gundam's cockpit.
"Same distortion field as Harbinger One."
He activated the AGE Device.
"Let's see if the data from Jupiter helps."
The device projected a complex mathematical model across his monitor.
Flit studied the patterns, then adjusted his firing solution.
Instead of targeting the enemy ship directly, he fired at three points in the surrounding space.
The first beam curved away.
The second vanished into a distortion field.
The third passed straight through the enemy's defensive barrier and struck its port-side armour.
A small explosion flashed across the hull.
Flit stared at the result.
"It worked."
Leon heard him.
"You found a way through?"
"A partial solution. Don't get overconfident."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
"You said that last time."
"And I meant it last time, too."
Flit accelerated toward the damaged warship.
Sentinel moved with him.
For the first time, the two Gundams attacked as a coordinated pair rather than as individual machines.
Flit forced the Ascendancy vessel to divert its defensive field, while Leon used Sentinel's fin funnels to attack from multiple directions.
The enemy's shields flickered.
One funnel struck the edge of the distortion field and was thrown off course, but two others slipped through the opening Flit had created.
Their beams struck the warship's weapons array.
The cannon went dark.
"Enemy weapon disabled!" Rika reported.
Leon smiled.
"One down."
"Three more approaching," Flit reminded him.
"Right. One down."
Gundam Tempest swept past them, its high-speed thrusters leaving a faint blue trail.
Elias Voss moved with extraordinary precision, never allowing the enemy's targeting systems to settle on his machine. He fired short, controlled bursts at the joints of an incoming Ascendancy drone, then accelerated past the wreckage before it had finished breaking apart.
"Tempest, engaging second target."
His voice remained calm.
Marcus Hale's Bastion followed more slowly, placing itself between the human fleet and the incoming attackers.
Its heavy beam cannon fired.
The blast struck an Ascendancy ship squarely across the forward shields.
The impact forced the enemy vessel backward.
"Target's shield is weakening," Marcus reported. "I can keep it occupied, but I won't be able to hold it indefinitely."
"Understood," Rolf answered. "The fleet is repositioning."
The human ships moved together, their formations becoming tighter as the Ascendancy attempted to separate them.
They were outmatched in technology.
They were outmatched in firepower.
But they had learned something at Jupiter.
The Ascendancy was not invincible.
And humanity was no longer fighting blindly.
Behind the Threshold Gate, Commander Auren watched the battle unfold.
The damaged Archive Sentinel was now protected by the enormous ring's defensive systems. Blue energy fields shimmered around the vessel, preventing the Ascendancy from closing the distance.
An officer approached Auren's command chair.
"Commander, the Human machines are holding the line."
"I can see that."
"They are technologically inferior."
Auren watched Sentinel evade another spatial strike.
"Yes."
"Yet they continue fighting."
Auren was silent for a moment.
"That is why the Helix chose them."
The officer hesitated.
"Do you believe they can defeat the Tribunal?"
"No."
Auren looked toward the damaged human ships.
"Not yet."
The officer seemed surprised.
Auren smiled faintly.
"But they may learn."
A warning flashed across the command display.
A new transmission was entering the system.
Its signal carried the highest possible Tribunal authentication.
Auren's expression changed immediately.
The voice that followed was cold and unmistakable.
"Commander Auren. Stand down."
Auren rose slowly.
"Tribunal Marshal Caelus."
"The Archive Gate will be surrendered to the Ascendancy. The Human vessels will be detained, and the Helix inheritance will be confiscated."
Auren stared at the transmission.
"You have no jurisdiction over this archive."
"The Second Judgment supersedes all prior agreements."
"No."
Auren's voice was quiet but firm.
"The Judgment is a system. It is not a law of nature."
For several seconds, the transmission remained silent.
Then Caelus answered.
"Your resistance has been noted."
The signal ended.
Auren looked toward the enormous ring surrounding the gate.
"Prepare the Archive's inner systems."
The officer beside him stiffened.
"Commander, those systems have been dormant for millennia."
"I know."
"If we awaken them, we may lose control of the gate."
Auren looked at the approaching Ascendancy fleet.
"If we do not, we will lose everything."
The battle was beginning to turn against the humans.
One escort cruiser had lost its forward shields. Another was struggling to maintain reactor stability after a near miss from an Ascendancy beam.
Sentinel's armour was scorched, and two of its fin funnels had been disabled.
Leon wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Flit, how are we doing?"
"Poorly."
"That's encouraging."
"I'm trying to be accurate."
A massive Ascendancy vessel turned toward the Argonaut, its main weapon beginning to charge.
Rika shouted over the fleet channel.
"Captain! They're targeting the flagship!"
Rolf looked at the tactical display.
"All ships, intercept that weapon!"
The human fleet fired everything it had.
Missiles, beam cannons, and mobile suit weapons converged on the enemy vessel.
The Ascendancy's defensive field absorbed most of the attacks.
The cannon continued charging.
Leon looked at the distance between Sentinel and the enemy warship.
He wouldn't reach it in time.
Then a new transmission came through.
"Human pilot."
It was Commander Auren.
"Your machine possesses a Helix inheritance crystal."
Leon frowned.
"Yes."
"Can you hear the gate?"
Leon glanced at his console.
The crystal was glowing again.
"Sometimes."
"Then listen carefully."
Auren's voice became urgent.
"The gate is not merely a passage. It is a defensive system. The Asteri built it to protect the Archive from precisely this kind of attack."
Flint immediately joined the channel.
"How do we activate it?"
"The inheritance must be connected to the gate's central intelligence."
Leon looked toward the enormous ring.
"You want me to connect Sentinel to that thing?"
"Yes."
"While we're being shot at?"
"Yes."
Leon exhaled.
"Of course."
Flit moved alongside him.
"I'll cover you."
Tempest and Bastion immediately repositioned to protect Sentinel's approach.
Elias accelerated ahead, drawing enemy fire away from the ring. Marcus placed Bastion directly in front of the Argonaut, using its heavy armour to absorb the impacts of incoming beam fire.
Leon pushed Sentinel forward.
The Gundam's psycho-frame began glowing emerald green.
The Threshold Gate responded.
Blue light spread across its enormous circumference, illuminating symbols that had remained dark for thousands of years.
Leon reached the central access point.
A beam of light connected Sentinel's chest to the ring.
The cockpit filled with unfamiliar symbols.
Then a voice spoke inside his mind.
Not the Keeper.
Not Helix.
Something older.
"Inheritance confirmed."
"Guardian authority recognised."
Leon gripped the controls.
"Then help us!"
The gate answered.
"DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS RESTORATION: INITIATED."
The entire ring awakened.
Thousands of panels unfolded along its surface, revealing crystalline structures that projected overlapping fields of blue light.
The Ascendancy's charged weapon fired.
The beam struck the gate's defensive barrier.
For the first time since the battle began, the Ascendancy's attack failed completely.
The beam scattered across the barrier and dissolved into harmless sparks.
Across the battlefield, every Ascendancy ship stopped moving.
Commander Auren stared at the tactical display.
Then a smile slowly appeared on her face.
"The Archive remembers."
The Threshold Gate pulsed once.
A wave of blue light spread through the surrounding space, disrupting the Ascendancy's spatial distortion fields.
Their ships remained intact, but their defensive systems faltered.
Flit reacted immediately.
"Now, Leon!"
Sentinel detached from the gate.
The two Gundams attacked together.
Tempest and Bastion followed.
The human fleet concentrated its fire on the exposed Ascendancy vessels, forcing them to retreat toward the transit corridor.
One by one, their warships vanished into the blue light.
The final vessel remained behind for several seconds.
Its hull was larger than the others, its crimson markings glowing brightly against the darkness.
A transmission appeared on every human display.
Marshal Caelus spoke.
"Humanity has demonstrated an unexpected capacity for adaptation."
His gaze settled on Sentinel.
"The Second Judgment will proceed."
The vessel turned toward the corridor.
"But the Tribunal will remember this interference."
It disappeared.
The battlefield fell silent.
For several seconds, Leon simply sat in Sentinel's cockpit, breathing heavily.
Then he laughed.
Not because the battle had been easy.
Not because humanity had won a decisive victory.
But because they were still alive.
Flit joined him over the communications channel.
"You ignored another direct order."
Leon grinned.
"You noticed?"
"Unfortunately."
"Are you going to report me?"
Flit paused.
"No."
Leon looked surprised.
"Really?"
"I'll let Captain Rolf do it."
"That's cold."
"It's called delegation."
An hour later, the Argonaut and the surviving vessels regrouped beside the Threshold Gate.
Damage-control teams were already working to repair the damaged cruisers, while medical personnel tended to the wounded.
The battle had cost humanity dearly.
But it had also accomplished something extraordinary.
The first Trial Gate had been activated.
And the Archive Guard had survived.
Commander Auren's vessel approached the Argonaut, transmitting a docking request.
Captain Rolf approved it immediately.
When the airlock opened, Auren stepped into the human vessel.
She was tall, with pale silver skin and dark blue hair tied behind her neck. Her uniform bore the same insignia as Lyra's, though hers was marked with the gold emblem of the Archive Guard.
Lyra stood waiting in the reception chamber.
For a moment, the two women simply stared at each other.
Then Auren smiled.
"You really are alive."
Lyra laughed through her tears.
"I could say the same about you."
They embraced.
For the first time in centuries, two members of the Asteri Concord stood together beneath a sky their people had once believed lost forever.
Leon watched from the doorway.
Flint stood beside him.
"So," Leon said quietly, "we've got a working gate, a surviving archive fleet, and another ancient civilization's worth of technology to investigate."
Flint nodded.
"And an enemy that now knows we can activate the old systems."
Leon looked toward the observation window.
The Threshold Gate glowed softly in the darkness, its ancient machinery finally awake.
"Then we'd better make sure we understand what we've just turned on."
Flint smiled faintly.
"That's the first sensible thing you've said all day."
Leon laughed.
But neither of them noticed the small red symbol that had appeared deep within the gate's central intelligence.
It pulsed once.
Then again.
A message appeared in a language older than the Asteri Concord.
OUTER DARK CONTAINMENT: DEGRADING.
TRIBUNAL ACTIVITY DETECTED.
FINAL SAFEGUARD: AWAITING AUTHORISATION.
Far beyond Archive Prime, something moved in the darkness between galaxies.
And for the first time in thousands of years, it had noticed that someone was opening doors.